Eight Simple Leadership Principles
In these very challenging times the need for good leadership has never been greater. Team members constantly look towards their leaders for reassurance and confidence that everything will be okay. To assist all those of you who have leadership or management responsibility I enclose a little refresher for you which will hopefully provide some guidance.
1. Create a Vision
People can't follow unless they know where they are going. Your vision might be a simple commitment to providing first class service to your customers or it might be a challenge to reduce the unit cost by 25%. The vision should be achievable and understandable. It should be expressed in simple language that everyone can buy into. The vision will provide you with the reference point when you need to focus attention on the purpose of the business and the motivation to continue through difficult times. Don't keep it to yourself. Your vision should be shared with everyone in the business.
2. Identify the values
Every organisation has a set of values that the people understand and usually comply with. In most organisations these values are not made explicit and written down. It is just expressed as "that's the way we do things here". No one knows why or how that came about. Usually these values are created by the style, manner and character of the business owner(s). Spend some time with your team, 2 to 3 hours and work as a group to set out what the values are and what they mean to you as a team of people. An explicit set of values brings a sense of purpose and togetherness in a team. It is easy to identify those who are not working to the values and also it is a great help when introducing new people into the team. Values can also be a great guide in selecting new team members.
3. Communicate relentlessly
Without communication there is no teamwork. George B Shaw famously said "The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place". In all of the employee surveys we have undertaken the most complaints are about a lack of communication. People are convinced that there is a lot more information that could be made available to them but isn't. What is not very well understood is the need for two way communication and often employees are guilty of not communicating with management as well as the other way round. Depending on the size of the organisation the communication could be regular team meetings, monthly or quarterly newsletters on a company intranet with email updates. It could be a combination of all methods. What is more important is what you communicate and do so on a regular basis. Remember your vision and values that need to be regularly reinforced and that people will also sometimes need to know why decisions have been made as well as what the decisions are.
4. You are being watched
How you do things can be as important as what you do. Your team will observe how you manage and conduct yourself in and out of the workplace. They will expect you to always set a good example and an example of how they should conduct themselves. If there is a need to work in conflict with the values or other principles it will be best to explain the reasons why you are doing this or to at least acknowledge that you are aware of what you are doing and that an explanation will follow.
5. Appreciate and recognise
Most employees are not given recognition for doing their job well; recognition can be one of the greatest motivators. You just have to reflect on your own life at those times when a parent, teacher or boss took time out to say "well done" or "I really appreciate your efforts". No reward necessary, just genuine praise. The opposite is also true, how many times have you knocked your pan in to gain that recognition and it never comes. How difficult is it then to motivate yourself again and again. No amount of financial reward can compensate. Raise the salary or give a bonus only give brief motivation but recognition and true appreciation last forever.
6. Ask questions
As a leader you are always expected to have the answers to the most difficult questions. Indeed you have been conditioned to expect to be able to provide the answers. In an organisation it is unlikely that you alone will always have the best answer or solution.
A strong trait of great leaders is to stand back from providing an answer. Many will simply ask "how should we deal with this, what do you think?" throwing the problem open for discussion and involving others in the decision making process is a great motivator and shows true leadership. You still have the option to choose your own solution but by asking open questions you will get greater input and often some brilliant insights. The team will buy into the answer more readily having been involved in finding the solution and everyone will have a greater understanding of problem and the solution.
7. Deliver on your promises
If you can't deliver on your promises, don't promise; your status and standing as a leader often depends on you delivering what you promise. If there is some doubt then explain the risks and issues when making the commitment. It is OK to strive for something but your team will expect that you can always deliver unless you can make it clear that you are reaching out and that the goal may slip by. People are realists and mostly understand these issues but only if you make clear what can be done and what might be done.
8. Celebrate frequently
Not difficult to do and bonds the team. Not all celebrations need to be extensive and expensive. When orders are hard to win it is possible to celebrate with a bag of doughnuts and a coffee, taking an extra five minutes to let everyone know that something important has been achieved, even though it is really part of the day job. Celebrations can be impromptu or organised. We are regularly challenged in our daily lives and we often forget how difficult the job really is. We just make it look easier because we are good at it. So celebrate, sometimes it is even worth doing when things are going badly just to raise spirits and help everyone through the difficult times.
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